


second guessing

by lostin_space



Series: Catch Me, I'm Falling [3]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Kid Fic, Light Angst, Not Max Evans Friendly, shitty parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28745490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: Liz did her best not to get angry at Max.
Relationships: Michael Guerin & Liz Ortecho
Series: Catch Me, I'm Falling [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1540030
Comments: 11
Kudos: 36





	second guessing

**Author's Note:**

> in honor of jeanine mason's birthday: this

Liz did her best not to get angry at Max.

He  _ had  _ been dead for a year and he woke up to an entirely different world to the one he remembered. One where Isobel was traveling and not on great terms with Michael, one where Michael himself was responsible and in a committed relationship, one where they had a  _ baby.  _ She understood it wasn’t an easy thing to adjust to. But, where Michael seemed to be overflowing with paternal instincts, Max didn’t have a single bone in his body that knew how to handle or take care of a baby. Which would’ve been find if it wasn’t  _ his. _

“Get out of my face, please,” Liz said, keeping her voice as even as possible. Max sighed and looked at her with that pitiful face that maybe once upon a time she’d cave for. Now, however, it felt like he was just trying to convince her she was overreacting. “Fine.”

Liz stood off the bed, holding Illiana to her chest as she sidestepped him and made her way towards the door.

“Liz‒”

“Don’t touch me,” Liz said, only sparing Max a glare before leaving the room. He didn’t follow her, thankfully.

Liz went to go sit outside, but she found her hand hovering over the doorknob. She looked down at Illiana sleeping against her chest for a moment before walking to the other side of the house where Michael and Alex’s room was. Alex had drill today, so she knew Michael would be alone. She didn’t bother knocking. She just needed him.

“Hey,” Michael said, swiveling in the chair at his desk slowly as he followed her with his eyes. She went to the crib that was against the wall and carefully placed Illiana down before throwing herself into Michael’s bed. “Something wrong?”

“I’m thinking of killing your brother,” Liz grumbled. The desk chair creaked as he got up and the bed dipped as he laid beside her.

“What’d he do this time?”

Liz took a deep breath and then turned her head to him. If two years ago someone had told her she’d be a mother and raising that child with Michael Guerin of all people, she probably would’ve laughed. Now, though, all she could do was scoot closer and let him wrap his arms around her the way he’d done nearly every day when it was just the two of them.

“I told him that tomorrow you and I both have work, so he’d need to watch her. And do you know what he said?”

“What?”

“He  _ laughed  _ and said he wasn’t a babysitter,” Liz said. The words sat wrong in her gut and made her feel like she was going to crawl out of her skin. Michael scoffed and she could feel the tension fill him just as it had filled her.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I  _ wish  _ I was kidding,” Liz said. Michael shook his head, his eyes going to the ceiling where he stared in disbelief.

Sometimes Max had a tendency to say things that made her question if she’d made a good decision at being with him. Logically, she knew he had no say in Illiana’s existence and thus it would take time to get used to. But she also knew he didn’t  _ have  _ to stay with her. He didn’t  _ have  _ to agree to the terms that were provided when they brought him back. He could leave. Liz didn’t need him to raise her.

But she was beginning to wonder just how much she was expected to tolerate.

“I’ll ask Alex if he can watch her tomorrow. He doesn’t have work, he should say okay,” Michael said. Liz groaned again.

“I hate asking him again.”

“Yeah, but I trust him more than I trust Max to watch her.”

“It’s just been six months of him being back to normal, you know? I thought he’d be adjusted by now, but he can’t even watch her. He doesn’t  _ want  _ to watch her,” Liz said. Michael didn’t answer right away and Liz couldn’t help but sigh, squeezing her eyes shut. “I don’t think he realizes that he can’t just have me and Illiana is just a bump in the road. It’s like he doesn’t even like her. Which, like, that’s weird right? Like weird for even Max.”

“I wanna say yeah, but Max is weird. I know he has  _ some  _ sort of attachment to her, he calls her his kid and he holds her, but… I don’t know, he’s probably just not ready to be a dad,” Michael said.

“Well, I wasn’t ready to be a mom. And I know  _ you  _ weren’t ready to be a dad,” Liz pointed out. They’d been slowly getting more comfortable with that title since that’s truly what he was at the end of the day, but Michael still always flushed hot when it was said. “If he doesn’t want to, he should just say it. I won’t be mad.”

“Maybe you should tell him that,” Michael suggested. Liz scrunched up her nose and kept her head against his chest.

The idea of confronting him that way was terrifying. But he wasn’t wrong. She needed to just confront him. If he left, then he left. She had Michael.

And Michael wouldn’t leave.

“Can I just lay here until I cool off before I talk to him?” Liz asked. Michael huffed a laugh.

“You know you can.”

Later she’d confront Max about his feelings and maybe he’d leave for the night. Maybe he’d stay away for more than just the night. But that was later.

This was now.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://spaceskam.tumblr.com/)


End file.
